After All (A Jordan Knight/Joe McIntyre Fanfiction)

22

Five months later...

Amber and Jordan are in the second month of his solo tour. It's been great so far. They sing each night, they even do a few duets. They've really started to get to know each other.

At the start of his three month solo tour Jordan and Amber agreed to have dinner each night. No matter what, that was the one thing they'd promised each other. This has really helped them get to know each other. Amber's definitely enjoyed the time she's gotten to spend with her father.

One night at a show in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Amber is doing a couple of songs while Jordan plays piano, she sees Joe sitting in the audience. She's more than surprised to see him, but she doesn't show it. She keeps her composure. Even when their eyes meet and stay on each other for a few moments. When her song ends she turns to Jordan and whispers something to him, he nods. Amber picks up her guitar and begins to play, "Goodbye to You" by Michelle Branch. Jordan sits and listens, the emotions pour out of her, this isn't lost on Jordan. He's can see the change in her posture, her voice and her eyes. She's sad. Jordan follows Amber's eyes into the crowd, when he sees Joe, the guilt hits him. But then he goes into protective father mode. Why is Joe here? Why is he doing this to her? They said a clean break, now he's here, breaking her heart all over again. Jordan knows he's got to fix this, make things right. First he needs to talk to Amber. He will never interfere in her life, especially her love life, without talking to her first.

Amber finishes her song, Jordan stands and joins her at the front of the stage. "Let's hear it for Amber Carson ladies and gentlemen. We're going to take a short break and then I'll be back out. Don't go anywhere." Jordan and Amber leave the stage. "Amber? Are you okay? I saw Joe in the crowd. Do you want me to tell him to go?"

"No, its okay. I'm fine. You don't need to do that. Thank you though. Everything in me tells me to go to him. But I know it'll never work out between us, so what's the point in this back and forth bullshit. I just wanted a clean break, but....." Amber stops talking, Jordan sees her eyes shift to something over his shoulder. "Hi."

Jordan turns and smiles at his friend, "Hey Joe. Its good to see you." They hug quickly. "I've got to get back up there for my set. Amber we can skip the duets tonight so you two can catch up. I'll still see you after though right?"

Amber looks from Joe to Jordan, "Yes, of course. I'll be here when you're done. This should be a short conversation, maybe we can do the duets at the end tonight?" Joe's heart sinks when she says that. Jordan smiles, "Okay sweetie, its up to you." She kisses his cheek and quickly hugs him. "Break a leg Pops." Its the first time she's called him anything other than Jordan. It surprises both of them, she hadn't planned on calling him that, but it just came out so naturally. He doesn't say anything else to her, just lightly touches her cheek and winks.

"Looks like you and Jordan are doing good. I'm really happy for you two. Jordan looks so happy. I'm sorry to just show up like this. But I was visiting some family here in Grand Rapids and heard Jordan was in town performing. I didn't know you were with him until I walked in the door and saw you on stage. You sounded fucking amazing babe."

Amber just stares at him. Every cell in her body wakes up when he's near. She feels like she's humming all over. It's taking all her strength not to grab him and throw him down right here. Her body aches for him. But so does her heart. "You shouldn't have come back here. Clean break remember? It hurts me every time I see you. It's been a year Joe, a year since you fucking tore my heart out. I've never stopped missing you or loving you. But you can't keep doing this. Just showing up where I am. Unless you're willing to be with me now? Regardless of how Jordan feels? Are you willing to go against what he wants?"

Joe shakes his head, he looks over towards Jordan on stage. Jordan is looking over at them, a worried look on his face. "No Amber I can't do that to him. Especially not now when I see the two of you getting along so well. You said you understood this Amber."

Amber's suddenly angry with Joe. "Then why the fuck are you here Joe? Just to push the knife in a little deeper? Or maybe you were hoping I'd let you fuck me again, then you could sneak out after without a word. Then not speak to me until you want to fuck me again? I'm in the middle of a show, but hey,  maybe we can bang out a quickie. I think there may be a bathroom around here somewhere. Come on lets go find it."

Now Joe's the one who's pissed. "Stop it Amber. You know that's not what happened last time we saw each other. Don't paint me as the bad guy here. I was put in a very fucked up situation. No matter what I did, I lost. I either lost my best friend that I've had for over twenty years. Or I lost the girl I was in love with. I'm sorry I wasn't willing to lose my friend of over twenty years. I did what I thought was right. Don't you dare say I'm just trying to fuck you. I'm not some young little prick, I'm a grown fucking man, if I just wanted to fuck you, I'd be coming around way more often. I'm sorry for leaving like I did last time, but you said you wanted one more night together, then a clean break. That's what I thought I was giving you. I'm sorry I stopped by here. It was obviously a huge mistake. I should have left when I saw you were here too. Goodbye Amber. I won't be bothering you again. But know this, if there's ever a time you want to see me, don't hesitate. I love you." With that he was gone again. Out of her life, possibly for good this time.

When Amber looked up at Jordan he was looking at her, a sad look on his face. She smiled and waved at him. Then she mouthed, "It's okay" to him. He nodded and went back to his song.

Jordan didn't mention Joe's visit at dinner that night. He felt a distance between he and Amber again. He thought maybe she needed time. In fact he waited two weeks before he finally mentioned it.

"Amber, sweetheart, do you still love Joe?" Amber looks up from her plate, surprised by his question. "What?"

"Do you love Joe? Do you miss him?"

Amber looks at Jordan, he sees such sadness in her eyes, "Yes, I love him and I miss him every day."

Jordan thinks for a long second, "Then you should be with him. You've got my blessing, if its even required. I guess its more Joe's got my blessing. I'll call him and tell him I'm okay with the two of you dating."

"No wait, Jordan I was really mean the other night when he came to the show. I said some awful things. I think I'm going to have to make a grand gesture to win him back. Or more he deserves a grand gesture. I'll call Andi, we'll figure it out. Thanks Pops." Her smile matched Jordan's, they were both genuinely happy. Then an idea came to Jordan.

"I've got a plan, a grand gesture that Joey McIntyre won't be able to resist."